Wellington EkayaILRI Institute Planning Meeting4-7 October 2016

The Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund Program

• Needs of NARS to build a critical mass of skilled scientists undertaking bioscience research for agricultural development

• Needs of NARS to effectively leverage advances in biosciences and biotechnology for agricultural development

• The weak capacity (in relevant disciplines and with skills) to develop and assess technologies

• Weak and ineffective local and international links and partnerships

• The lack of well equipped laboratory facilities with adequate and sustainable financial resources

What the ABCF Program is responding to

Who articulates these issues?

…and many more

ABCF Program Objectives

• Strengthen capacity of individuals and institutions to harness the latest biosciences technologies for research for development to improve agriculture in Africa

• Support African scientists efforts to lead and sustain biosciences research for development in Africa

• Promote access to world-class research and training facilities at the BecA–ILRI Hub

• Mobilize capacities in African NARS and beyond for joint actions geared toward improving agriculture in Africa

ABCF Program Components

1. Research fellowships – hosting and accelerating NARS-led research

2. Training workshops - Strengthening skills and knowledge of NARS researchers for improved response to national demands

3. Catalysing linkages and partnership – broker and magnet

4. Institutional Capacity Building: Gulu University

Starting 2009:• Laboratory design & proposal development (2009)

• Lab set up and equipment installation, commissioning (2014), technical training and BecA annual workshops

Achievements: Grants: BMGF, Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Seeding lab Program

Collaborations: Gent University, Belgium; Osaka University, Japan; Yale University, USA

Visiting scientists: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Extended BecA-ILRI Hub Faculty

Charles MasembeMUK, Uganda

Sagadevan MundreeQUT, Australia

Rebecca NelsonCornell, USA

Erik BongcamSLU, Sweden

Richard OduorKenyatta University, Kenya

Sekhar UdayaBioforsk, Norway

Trend in numbers of research fellows

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20150

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

ABCF Research Fellows Directly Funded

2016 Research Fellows

Currently on the bench = 26

Incoming Oct to Dec = 25 Projected total for 2016 = 51

Where the research fellows come from

National Research In-stitutes and Ministries (46%)Universities (51%)Others (private sector, CG….) (3%)

Contribution of ABCF projects to ILRI and BecA-ILRI Hub Mission

Livestock Research / Improvement (32%)

Crops Research / Improvement (44%)

Food Safety and Nutrition (11%)

Under-utilized Species (6%)

Climate Change (4%)

Others (e.g. Medicinal Plants, Bush Meat, Bees…)(2%)

Very strong endorsement by stakeholders of the ABCF

Programme Growth/Scale out strategy

BecA-ILRI Hub Alumni have a central role to play

Catalyzing and facilitating CoP formation on identified themes

o Local chicken genetics/improvement:

(Cameroon, Ghana, CAR, DRC…)

o Goat genetics (Ethiopia, Cameroon,

Tanzania, Kenya…)

PAPA

Partnerships

…and many more

Better capacity, better science, better livestock, better lives

Thank you

Program Director: Appolinaire Djikeng A.djikeng@cgiar.org

Head ABCF Program: Wellington Ekaya W.ekaya@cgiar.org

Mobilizing biosciences for Africa’s developmenthttp://hub.africabiosciences.org